Flashback
by MrsWhovian
Summary: A loud bang sends Dom back to a traumatic day.


Dom had been having days where things felt difficult for the last couple of years now. The counsellor that he saw for a while after Isaac's abuse said that the build-up of events in a short period of time had induced some anxiety. He gave Dom some coping techniques, but some days Dom just had to accept that he would find normal day to day tasks harder to perform. On the day in question, he was struggling more than usual, which may have been why he reacted the way he did.

* * *

"Yes! Thank you Dominic! How do you know every pop song from the 1990s?"

Dom let out a laugh at Ange's jubilation as they stepped behind the nurses' desk. Their relationship had really turned a corner recently, and the fact that their secret was now common knowledge, meant that Dom no longer had to be satisfied with whispered conversations in corners. Today, however, he had that little voice in the back of his mind that was telling him that something awful was going to happen.

And so, as he made a humorous, sarcastic quip in reply to his biological mother's initial question, he dropped to the floor, covering his head as a door slammed open behind him, the loud 'bang' echoing through the ward.

"Dom?" Ange asked hurriedly, confused when he shuffled back as far as he could, so that he would be unseen from the other side of the desk.

"Dom, are you okay?" Ange asked again, crouching down next to him as he squeezed his eyes closed as quickly as possible.

"Don't shoot, please don't shoot," she heard him whisper.

Looking around, she saw Essie walk on to the ward and quickly summoned her over. Ange watched as the nurse crouched down in front of him, her face turning white as she heard him repeat his panicked, hurried whispers.

Essie took a deep breath as she tried to summon the strength to calm Dominic down, and bring him back from the flashback that he was experiencing.

"Dominic, it's Essie. I know you're scared right now, but I promise you that you are completely safe. Can you look at me?"

Essie and Ange waited as Dom slowly looked up at them. When he finally did, Ange gave him a reassuring smile before his gaze flickered back to Essie.

"Can you tell me where you are, Dom?" Essie asked.

Dom nodded, as he whispered 'Holby' under his breath.

"That's right, and do you know who I am?"

"Essie."

"Good. And how about her?"

Dom looked up at Ange when Essie gestured to her, and appeared to have to think seriously about his answer.

"Mum. No, my mum's my mum. Ange. But, why do I think she's my mum?"

"It's okay. Just take a breath," Essie reassured him, trying to calm him again. She saw Ange wipe a tear away but focussed on the Doctor in front of her.

"Can you tell me what year it is, Dom?"

Dom looked up at Ange again, and Ange could see the cogs turning as he tried to put together her presence with wherever his mind was currently at.

"Two thousand and… nineteen?" he asked hesitantly.

"That's right," Essie replied. "And when did the shooting occur?"

They all tried not to notice Essie stuttering over that sentence, relieved when Dom quickly identified the correct year.

"That's right," Essie said, reaching out slowly to hold Dom's hands. "So you know that you're safe. We're all safe."

Dom nodded, and Essie leaned forwards, embracing him, relief flooding through her body as Dom held her just as tightly.

As they separated, Ange couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the support that Dom was getting from Essie. She knew that they were friends, but she wanted to be the person that comforted her son now.

"Do you want to go somewhere a bit quieter?" Ange heard Essie ask. When Dom nodded, wiping away the tears from his eyes as he tried to gain some control, Essie asked if he wanted her to go with him.

Dom, however, shook his head, looking to his mum. "Ange?" he asked hesitantly, "Do you have time if…"

Ange held up a hand, silencing him before he could start spiralling again.

"I have all the time in the world, sweetheart."

* * *

Ange, Dom and Essie walked slowly over to Ange's office, Dom turning around to give Essie a hug when they got there.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"I can sit in if you want?" Essie offered, not wanting him to feel like she was trying to hand him off to avoid talking about it.

"It's okay," he replied. "It was Raf, you know?"

Essie nodded, kissing his cheek before he and Ange disappeared into her office, closing the door behind them.

* * *

Dom collapsed on to the sofa in Ange's office, Ange quickly sitting next to him. She held her arms out as he leant into her, and she held him close as he sobbed, the emotions of the last hour catching up with him.

"It's okay sweetheart, it's okay," she said softly, stroking his hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She waited in silence as he calmed himself down, before he sat up and took a deep breath.

"Sorry," he whispered, but Ange quickly waved it away.

"You have nothing to apologise for," she reassured him. "You know, I heard about the shooting, obviously, but I never properly made the connection that you would have been there."

Dom nodded. "I was his target," he stuttered, his vision blurring again as he saw Ange press a hand to her mouth in horror.

"What?"

Dom nodded. "Frederik, Hanssen's son, was jealous of the fact that Hanssen was looking out for me. After everything that happened with Isaac, I developed an addiction to steroids. Hanssen was there for me. He helped me get off them, and kept tabs on me until I got it all under control. Frederik tried to sabotage that, but Hanssen stood by me. When he was forced to leave the hospital, he made a list of targets. I was in the scrub room with a few other people and he pointed his shotgun straight at me. If Hanssen hadn't appeared when he did, I would be dead. Raf, Essie's husband; he did die. Ollie, Zosia's husband still has severe brain damage."

It was only when Dom stopped talking, that Ange realised that she had started crying. The thought that she could have lost her son before she had found him, shook her to her core. And the revelation of the loss that Essie suffered helped Ange understand why Essie knew just what to say.

Dom, seeing his mother's anguish, pulled her into another hug, this time comforting her as she cried.

"How often do you have days like this?" Ange asked quietly as she pulled away.

"Not very often," Dom reassured her, "Not anymore. I have some anxiety, but the counsellor I saw after Isaac's arrest gave me coping techniques. On the whole, I'm okay. I'm just having a bad day today."

Ange nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Dom shrugged. "I wouldn't turn down a hug. Only if that's okay, I mean."

Ange smiled gently. "That is always okay, sweetheart."

Dom sighed, the tension easing from his shoulders, and leant back into his mother's open arms. As he used her steady heartbeat to calm his breathing, he let himself find peace in Ange's embrace. Right now, all his anxieties were just floating away.

"It's okay," Ange whispered, stroking his hair.

"Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

**A/N: So this idea has been floating around in my head for a little while now, and I thought I'd write it down. Hope you like it - leave a review and let me know!**


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